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My First ALA Conference


Star Wars at ALA
Originally uploaded by dumbsarah
At the last minute I decided to visit this year's American Library Association conference. It just so happens that my college roommate lives less than 10 blocks from McCormick Place, where the conference was held. Add in the fact that it was my first full weekend off since sometime in May, so of course I wanted to spend my time off with other librarians.

Since I was only in town for the day on Saturday, I just stuck to the exhibits, but that was enough for me. Luckily, I've been to similar types of conferences before so it wasn't too surprising, but it was still a little surreal to see so many librarians in one place at the same time.

The part that was overwhelming to me is that I've now been a librarian long enough that I actually found most of the exhibitors relevant to my work life, but I haven't been a librarian long enough to know how to make the most of that relevance.

There were giveaways and prize drawings to enter all over the place. I signed up for a few free book drawings. I got a few free children's books that I know will go over swimmingly and grabbed a few advance copies of books in my selection areas.

But the rest of the time I walked around the exhibitor floor a little dazed and overwhelmed and the sheer size of the place. So I guess I'm glad I only planned to check out the exhibits and didn't try to do more on my first, planned at the last minute, trip to ALA.
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